Mourning the Last Parthian King

In this talmudic passage, Rav mourns Ardavan, presumably referring to the last Parthian emperor, Artabanus IV (r. 213–224 CE). The account attributes the same words to Rav as are attributed to the patriarch Judah the Prince (called simply Rabbi) regarding a figure named Antoninus—most likely a reference to the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius (r. 138–161 CE), although there are historical problems with this identification. The claim that these imperial figures actually served the rabbis is pure fantasy, and indeed, the relationship between Judah and Antoninus is the subject of some particularly imaginative talmudic storytelling.